Police recovered two handguns Tuesday night after two Evanston residents were arrested in connection with separate incidents involving unlawful weapon use.

Evanston police pulled over a 25-year-old male driver in the 400 block of Dewey Avenue at about 5 p.m. for driving without a seat belt and failing to use a turn signal when required, Evanston police Cmdr. Joseph Dugan said. After detecting a marijuana odor, officers searched the man’s vehicle and found a loaded 9 mm Tanfoglio handgun underneath the front seat, Dugan said.

Police also discovered a bag containing about 3.1 grams of marijuana in his possession. The man was on parole at the time of his arrest.

The man was charged with two counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and one count of armed habitual criminal for violating parole, all of which are felonies. He was also charged with misdemeanors for two counts of firearm possession with no valid Firearm Owner’s Identification card, one count of unlawful weapon use and one count of unlawful marijuana possession. The man also received two traffic citations.

Later that night, just before midnight, police approached a vehicle in the 1900 block of Brummel Street after noticing a burnt marijuana odor, Dugan said.

A 23-year-old man found in the car told police he and others in the vehicle had just finished smoking marijuana and that he had a handgun in the glove compartment, Dugan said.

Police recovered a 9 mm Beretta handgun from the glove compartment and a loaded 9 mm magazine in a compartment near the steering wheel of the vehicle. Police arrested the man after discovering his Firearm Owner’s Identification status had been revoked.

The man was charged with a felony for one count of aggravated unlawful weapon use and a misdemeanor for two counts of firearm and ammunition possession with no valid Firearm Owner’s Identification card.

The police who arrested the 23-year-old were detectives dispatched as part of the Evanston Police Department’s new violence reduction program, which launched in September following an uptick in gun-related crimes. The program deploys two officers each day to gun-violence hotspots to recover firearms.

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